Why do local schools and government boards say very public prayers, or the mandatory, cramdown variety?
Cole Norton's letter (below) suggests their actions are hurtful to those who don't share their religious beliefs.
My mother, Mary Elizabeth Donlon Slavin, explained to me years ago the difference between religion and religiosity. Religion is in your heart and soul; religiosity is worn on your sleeve, for public consumption, the way coaches and other politicians do it.
When the cameras are off, St. Augustine City Commissioners don't bother with either a prayer or a flag salute. Case in point -- every single workshop meeting and every single budget meeting is held without either working TV cameras or religious or patriotic sentiment. They're guilty of religiosity -- wearing it on their sleeves.
Coaches and politicians should not embroil kids in their religiosity. Any prayers should be truly voluntary and student-led, not coach-dictated.
To the coaches and other public-prayer-pushing-politicians: please stop forcing your views on other people. The Supreme Court rejected your view of mandatory cramdown religion decades ago.
My third grade teache thought she knew better than the Supreme Court. She forced us to read from a Protestant Bible after the Supreme Court's decision. She thought she was "cute." So apparently do today's coaches think they're "cute." They're not cute at all -- they're cruel. They're no different than teachers who try to inflict other personal opinions, instead of teaching young people to think for themselves.
As Elihu Root, the great American diplomat said, the best advice he could give corporate clients was "you're darned fools and you should stop."
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